Defending of Saar Synagogue Hailed by Jews in Germany; High Officials Attend Ceremony

January 25, 1951

DUSSELDORF (Jan. 24)

The consecration of a synagogue in Saarbrucken, which will also serve as a memorial for the 23 Jewish communities in the Saar destroyed by the Nazis, is widely commented upon in the provincial press as a major event in post-war Jewish reconstruction.

The ceremony was attended by the French High Commissioner, the Deputy Prime Minister of the Saarland, the president of the Saar provincial parliament, the Mayor of Saarbrucken, the Bavarian High Commissioner for Persecutees and Jewish community leaders from Alsace-Lorraine and from the Rhineland-Palatinate. Two surviving rabbis of the pre-war Saar community came from Israel and Switzerland, respectively, especially to attend the opening of the synagogue. Also present was Shlo Kaddar, first secretary of the Israel Legation in Paris.

The French High Commissioner, in his address, said that it was in accordance with French traditions of humanity and freedom that France had contributed toward the restoration of freedom to the Saarbrucken Jewish community. Mr. Kaddar stressed the unbreakable links between the people of Israel and Jews throughout the world. Representatives of the provincial government, as well as of the Catholic and Protestant Churches, also spoke. A bronze tablet commemorating the six million Jewish martyrs in Europe was unveiled. Fifteen hundred people attended the ceremonies.